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Monthly Archives: November 2013

Today was a okay we started our day with michad. Which are home-style hash browns fried in bacon grease with onions and garlic. When the potatoes are finished, push them all to the side crack open five eggs and place in empty pocket. Next, wait until they are starting to cook and mix thoroughly within in the potatoes. Once the eggs appear to be cooked through turn heat off dump 1 cup of Colby jack shredded cheese on top and mix. We also cooked a pound of bacon. My family likes bacon.

For dinner we had chicken fried rice and terrikki chicken.

I cubed two chicken breasts coated in a whisked egg and dumped four mixed with garlic powder, red pepper, and seasoned salt. I let that sit for 10 minutes. I fried them with Italian dressing tell both sides were white when cut open. I paced the done chicken on a serving plate.

I then added another tablespoon of Italian dressing and fried half of cup each of white and red onion and two tablespoons garlic. When the onions became translucent, I dumped those on top the chicken.

Next, I added to tablespoons honey, ½-cup pineapple juice, cornstarch water mixture, garlic powder, white pepper, ground mustard, and soy sauce. Once the sauce started to thicken dumped the onions and chicken and the canned pineapple chunks all back into the pan. Till everything was warm and gooey.

I loved it. SO didn’t even try eating a bite, the oldest boy ate three pieces of chicken and the baby ate none.

I made the banana whole-wheat pancakes following the 100 days of real food recipe. Here. I added more vanilla and cinnamon and made my hot pineapple sauce and they tasted great. My oldest had two the baby had about 10 he kept eating them I thought he was going to be sic, SO had none he doesn’t like pineapple or bananas.

For dinner we were on a date so a greasy hamburger a salad with vinaigrette, and fries.. Naughty but yummy.

Hold your hands an inch from each other palm to palm. Imagine the flow of energy into the right palm, through the chakra points the pelvis, the naval, the base of the ribs, the top of the heart, the base of the throat, between the eyes and the top of the head and back down and out the left palm.

Meditation for Grounding

Focus on the flow of energy. Now place each palm on the line of your circle (drawn or imaginary). Add the circle to the circuit of your energy so that you become part of the circle. Envision that the circle is part of the circuit of the Earth’s energy. Feel the air, feel the water, feel the warmth of fire, feel the Earth’s spirit and substance. Envision the earth being part of the Universe’s curcuit of energy. Imagine the Universe’s energy being part of the circuit of energy of this plane. Imagine this plane being part of the circuit of energy of the infinite planes.

Bring yourself back to the circle. Release hands from ground and feel the connection to all remaining.

Today was a work in progress I had my granola and added milk and frozen strawberries and blueberries for breakfast.. Note to self next batch of granola I will not add seeds if I am planning to use it as a cereal. It tasted off whenever I would bite a piece of sunflower seed.

Step 2:
Heat 1/3 cup canola oil and two grated garlic cloves in a small saucepan over med heat. When the oil is hot, turn off the heat and let the garlic infuse into the oil for 5-10 minutes. Assemble the tortillas by adding about 2 tbs. of the filling along the lower third of 8-10 flour tortillas — feel free to sprinkle with a bit more cheese on top if you like it extra cheesy! Roll up and place seam-side-down on a baking sheet lined with parchment.

Step 3:
Brush the tortilla roll-ups with the garlic oil and sprinkle with salt, dried cilantro, and chipotle Chile powder. Bake for 8-10 minutes, flipping over halfway through cooking so both sides are able to brown and crisp.

These were amazing. The kids had chicken quesadillas since the corn and onions scared them away. My significant other had hash browns, eggs and cheese.. One day at a time. lol

Was an utter disaster. To start with, my significant other played hooky from work and came over at 11 AM. He is not a fan of real food, fruits or vegetables mainly anything that does not come out of a box he hates. So, for lunch we had Mc Donald’s fries, for dinner I had salad and made Creamy Garlic Chicken Helper. The baby did not want any chicken helper and refused to eat it. He had granola for dinner. Do not get me wrong I love creamy garlic chicken helper but I can tell by the nutritional information on the back it is not healthy for any of us.

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Sandalwood is indicated for obsessive worry, and for worldly “over attachment”.
Whenever we over invest in seeing specific outcomes for our efforts, Sandalwood helps us
to re-establish an acceptance of reality as it is.

40 very small new potatoes or 20 slightly larger ones 1 tablespoon butter 1 tablespoon flour 6 tablespoons milk 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard Salt to taste Dash Worcestershire sauce 2 ounces sharp cheddar cheese 1 egg, separated 1 egg white Preheat the oven to 425. Lightly grease a cookie sheet. Bring salted water to a boil and boil potatoes for 8 minutes until the skin can be pierced easily with a fork. Using a melon baller make a well in the top of each potato. If using the larger ones, cut in half and hollow out the center. Place potatoes, hollow side up on cookie sheet. In a small saucepan, melt butter over low heat. Whisk in flour. Gradually add milk, stirring with the whisk. Cook for 5 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat and add mustard, salt, Worcestershire, and cheese; whisk. Add egg yolk and whisk. In a separate bowl whip the 2 egg whites until they stand in peaks but are not dry; fold into cheese mixture. Using a pastry bag or small spoon, fill potato cups with soufflé mixture. Bake for 7 to 8 minutes until the soufflés have risen and are golden brown.

Today was a very productive one for our family. I decide that during this waxing moon phase my family and I would start our new journey, one hundred days of eating real food. I found a wonderful website entitle so.

First off, I can admit we have grown accustomed to eating fast food or going to restaurants multiple times a week. There is just the sheer convenience factor and my kids will eat Mc Donald’s chicken nuggets without a fight. I can also freely admit I have created two little monsters when it comes to eating food. When I was growing up the saying, you will eat what is on your plate and enjoy it no questions asked. This meant I sat at the table after everyone else, and would try to gag down spinach, or try to cram as much into my mouth and run to the bathroom and spit it out. I did not want to treat my kids like this. Therefore, when my oldest that would eat everything started making his own choices around two years old. I went with the flow; he didn’t like ketchup okay no ketchup. Flash forward four years later and I have a six year old that has the strangest tastes and refuses to eat almost anything standard. It is frustrating and downright embarrassing in public. What six year old does not like hot dogs? Mine. What six year old does not like any type of fruit or vegetable? Mine. Now my youngest is starting to act like his older brother. Time to put my foot down. We need to reorganize, clean up our eating habits, and gain some new taste preferences.

My first move was finding that amazing website. When you click on her site there is a section for free meal planning .pdf’s. I downloaded an entire month.

The first week is seemingly decent, nothing too over the top for our over processed food-loving house. I went to the grocery store Monday and purchased all the necessary food items and even with fruits and wheat flour, my grocery bill was only $70. That is lean for a weeks’ worth of groceries in my house. We normally spend about $100 a week. I am hoping this trend will continue saving our family budget.

For breakfast we had
Whole-wheat banana pancakes with pure maple syrup and sliced pear

— The baby did not mind or notice the change in pancake flavor. I did I think I will need to doctor these pancakes up a bit more until I get used to whole-wheat. I normally like to making a glaze with maple syrup, vanilla, and pineapple chucks but I decided to try pears, it was okay.

For a snack we had:
Garlic Triscuits, green grapes, Colby jack sliced cheese, and apple slices. *note to self the garlic flavor triscuits were a bit much I think next time I will get regular ones and try those with cheese and apples instead. Oldest son did not like triscuits or apples but ate the cheese with me.

For lunch we had:
Leftover cheesy, potatoes bacon soup

For Dinner we are having:
Chicken, cheese, onion quesadillas.

During the day I washed my blueberries patted them dry placed them on a Tupperware lid and placed them in the freezer. I also washed and cut my strawberries and frozen them separately as well.
I then started working on the homemade granola. Recipe here. I changed my recipe a bit for my personal tastes. This smelled heavenly while baking.

Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Cover a rectangular baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Mix the dry oats, coconut, seeds and spices together in a large mixing bowl.
3. Heat the butter and honey together in a small saucepan over low heat. Once the butter melts stir in the vanilla and salt.
4. Pour the hot liquids over the dry ingredients and stir together with a rubber spatula until evenly coated.
5. Spread mixture onto prepared pan in one even layer. Bake for 75 minutes.
6. The granola will become crisp as it cools at which point you can break into pieces (if making bars) or break it up into small chunks by pounding it in a zip lock bag (if making cereal). Store in airtight container at room temperature for up to two weeks.

I cannot wait to try these with my frozen blueberries, strawberries, and vanilla yogurt. We have day one down, and we have not killed each other. There have been some tears, but we are trying.

——————————————————————————– —Description—The large perennial herb. yielding Cardamom seeds is known in its own country as ‘Elattari’ or ‘Ilachi,’ while ‘Cardamomum’ was the name by which some Indian spice was known in classical times. It has a large, fleshy rhizome, and the alternate, lanceolate leaves are blades from 1 to 2 1/2 feet long, smooth and dark green above, pale, glaucous green and finely silky beneath. The flowering stems spread horizontally near the ground, from a few inches to 2 feet long, and bear small, loose racemes, the small flowers being usually yellowish, with a violet lip. The fruits are from 2/5 to 4/5 of an inch long, ovoid or oblong, bluntly triangular in section, shortly beaked at the apex, pale yellowish grey in colour, plump, and nearly smooth. They are three-celled, and contain in each cell two rows of small seeds of a dark, reddish-brown colour. These should be kept in their pericarps and only separated when required for use. Though only the seeds are official, the retention of the pericarp is an obstacle to adulteration, while it contains some oil and forms a good surface for grinding the seeds. The value is estimated by the plumpness and heaviness of the fruits and the soundness and ripeness of the seeds. Unripe seeds are paler and less plump. The unbroken fruits are gathered before they are quite ripe, as the seeds of fruits which have partially opened are less aromatic, and such fruits are less valued. The seeds have a powerful, aromatic odour, and an agreeable, pungent, aromatic taste, but the pericarps are odourless and tasteless.

There is some confusion as to the different kinds, both botanically and commercially, different writers distinguishing them in varied ways.

The official Cardamums in the United States are stated to be only those produced in India, chiefly in Malabar and Mysore, but in Britain the seeds corresponding most closely to the official description are recognized, in spite of their names, as being imported from Ceylon.

The Cardamom is a native of Southern India, and grows abundantly in forests 2,500 to 5,000 feet above sea-level in North Canara Coorgi and Wynaad, where it is also largely cultivated. It flowers in April and May and the fruit-gathering lasts in dry weather for three months, starting in October. The methods of cultivating and preparing vary in different districts.

In the Bombay Presidency the fruits are washed by women with water from special wells and pounded soap nut (a kind of acacia). They are dried on house-roofs, the stalks clipped, and sometimes a starchy paste is sprinkled over them, in addition to the bleaching.

Bombay ships about 250,000 lb. annually to the London market. They were formerly known by their shapes as shorts, short-longs, and long-longs, but the last are now rarely seen. One hundred parts of the fruit yield on an average 74 parts of seeds and 26 of pericarp. The powdered seeds may be distinguished from the powdered fruit by the absence of the tissues of the pericarp.

The seeds are about 1/5 of an inch long, angular, wrinkled, and whitish inside. They should be powdered only when wanted for use, as they lose their aromatic properties.

In Great Britain and the United States Cardamums are employed to a small extent as an ingredient of curry powder, and in Russia, Sweden, Norway, and parts of Germany are largely used for flavouring cakes and in the preparation of liqueurs, etc. In Egypt they are ground and put in coffee, and in the East Indies are used both as a condiment and for chewing with betel. Their use was known to the ancients. (There are constant references to Cardamom Seeds in The Arabian Nights. – EDITOR) In France and America the oil is used in perfumery.

—Constituents—The seeds contain volatile oil, fixed oil, salt of potassium, a colouring principle, starch, nitrogenous mucilage, ligneous fibre, an acrid resin, and ash. The volatile oil contains terpenes, terpineol and cineol. Good ‘shorts’ yield about 4-6 per cent. It is colourless when fresh, but becomes thicker, more yellow, and less aromatic. It is very soluble in alcohol and readily soluble in four volumes of 70 per cent. alcohol, forming a clear solution.

Its specific gravity is 0.924 to 0.927 at 25 degrees C. (77 degrees F.). It is not used medicinally, but solely for pharmaceutical purposes, being employed as a flavouring in the compound spirit and compound elixir of Cardamums, and in other elixirs and mixtures. It is largely adulterated, owing to the high price of the seeds and the small percentage of volatile oil found in them.

—Medicinal Action and Uses—Carminative, stimulant, aromatic, but rarely used alone; chiefly useful as an adjuvant or corrective.

The seeds are helpful in indigestion and flatulence, giving a grateful but not fiery warmth. When chewed singly in the mouth the flavour is not unpleasant, and they are said to be good for colic and disorders of the head.

In flavouring they are combined with oils of Orange, Cinnamon, Cloves, and Caraway.

The substitution of glycerine for honey in the 1880 United States’ formula for compound tincture increased its stability.

—Adulterations—Various unofficial Cardamums are included, the product of otherspecies. Orange seeds and unroasted grains of coffee are also admixed. The oil is said to be no longer distilled from Eiettaria cardamomum. It is often factitious, and composed of oils of Cajuput, Nutmeg, etc.

ALEPPY CARDAMUMS, exported from Aleppy and Calicut, are also recognized in Britain, the former being paler and ‘short-longs’ and the latter ‘shorts.’

CEYLON WILD CARDAMOMS are the fruits of E. cardamomum var. major, imported from Ceylon, and sometimes called Long Wild Natives. They are cultivated in Kandy, and sometimes called in the East, Grains of Paradise, but they are not the product known by that name in Europe and America.

ROUND or SIAM CARDAMUMS are probably those referred to by Dioscorides, and called Amomi uva by Pliny. They are the fruits of A. cardamomum and A. globosum, growing in Java, Siam, and China, etc., and are nearly the size of a cherry. In their natural clusters they are the amomum racemosum or amome en grappe of the French, and in Southern Europe are sometimes used in the same way as the official kinds.

BENGAL CARDAMOMS, from A. subulatum, are sometimes called Winged Bengal Cardamums, Morung elachi, or Buro elachi. They are oblong or oval, and about an inch long.

NEPAL CARDAMUMS, of unknown origin, are like the Bengal species, but usually stalked, and have a long, tubular calyx.

WINGED JAVA CARDAMOMS, from A. maximum, growing in the Malay islands, are about an inch long, and when soaked in water show from 4 to 13 ragged wings on each side. They are feebly aromatic, and are usually sent abroad from the London markets.

KORARIMA CARDAMOMS, from A. kararima, have recently become known.

MADAGASCAR CARDAMUMS, of A. angustifolium, have pointed, ovate flattened capsules. The flavour of the seeds resembles the official variety.

BASTARD CARDAMUMS, from A. Xanthioides looks like the real kind, but is greenish in colour, and tastes like crude camphor.

Cardamomum Siberiense (Star Aniseed), Annis de Siberie of the seventeenth century and badiane of the French, is from Illicium verum, the fruit of which is chiefly used in preparing a volatile oil resembling the official oil of Anise.

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